Tandem Nursing Tribe - Page 6

[Still_Snarky]

I'm back from my vacation! :

Wow! I'm so glad to see how many people have joined since I started this thread. I'll catch up on reading here and then post a little later!

[broodymama]

Glad to see so many of us!

I hope nursing 2 keeps AF away longer, she came back when DS was 7.5 months and still exclusively BF.

It's been a rough week here. DH is in the Navy and went to sea last week, DS is having a hard time. This is the first patrol where he is really old enough to know what is going on.

[KittyMommy]

Originally Posted by gina871

I feel like my first is more attached somedays, and I thought that my baby (23 months) was not as interested. However now that she have has some words, I can tell how important our time together is. Now if I could just get a bigger lap. I never thought I would be nursing a 2year old and 4 year at the same time!!!!! Some days it works better then other, it have been a great test in patient and consideration for the girls and my self.

I know what you mean about a bigger lap!! I am currently nursing almost 75 pounds of "baby" Our kiddos are pretty close in age (12/16/02 and 10/21/04)...looks like we entered the tandem world only ten days apart!

Totally OT...I grew up in SD and still have an aunt, an uncle, and a cousin in the Sioux Falls area.

Jen

[mama_at_home]

Hi everyone! I honestly cannot remember if I have joined this thread before but I will introduce myself just in case. I am ebf my 8 month old twins along with my 3 year old. My 3 year old nurses between 2-4 times a day and is still very attached to nursing. I say no alot more than I want to, but sometimes I just cannot take one more second of nursing. Usually if I take a breather I can come back and offer but it makes me sad to say no in the first place. In a 24 hour period I'd say I nurse a minimum of 15 times, but usually much more than that. There are day when I wish my 3 year old would wean but overall it is working for us and I am happy to be giving all my kids such a wonderful gift. I look forward to chatting more!

Oops, I just realized this is the tandem nursing tribe! I was surprised to see 6 pages of triandem nursers because I have tried so hard to get a tribe going.

[Contented73]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Congrats on the new babies!

I thought we were doing pretty well with the whole tandem nursing, but lately I am hating it. Ds1 has started waking up at night (well, early morning anyway) crawling into bed with us and wanting to nurse. I spend the last 2-3 hours of the morning rolling over between both boys. I am SOOO tired. And I can't seem to get to bed early, either. I get the baby to sleep, but he invariably wakes up within 20 minutes after I get up, which is usually while I'm putting ds1 down. Dh takes the baby, who will not fall back to sleep for dh. Baby either cries or plays happily with dh. Ds1 finally goes to sleep and I lay down with baby, who after a short nursing session decides he's done and just wants to play, but does not want to go back to sleep. I just wish ONE of them would be able to go to sleep without nursing. Ds2 did for awhile, but would always wake up when dh tried to put him down. Now, he won't even fall asleep for dh. And there are times when dh has tried for a LONG time, while I was trying to get ds1 to sleep. (Ds1 used to fall asleep pretty easily, but lately it's hit or miss how long it takes him.) What's more, ds1 has NOT been going down for a nap in the afternoon, and I really miss the downtime. I am one grouchy mama lately.

After reading the first half of your post, I actually looked over at the author to see if I myself had written it.... Yeah, I guess we're going through the same thing (and God knows, with the sleep deprivation I have no idea what I've written on here lately )

Anyway, I'm just hoping there's a light at the end of the tunnel....ds2 is just one month old today, so I know it's still early. I give myself another couple months to see what happens, and if I'm still absolutely crazy, I'll go from there.

Nighty nite everyone!
Suzanne

[timneh_mom]

Is this toddler colostrum poo?

Hello!

I haven't posted much on this thread, but I'm just in the beginnings of tandeming... still pregnant! I'm almost 19 weeks and I'm thinking I've got a little colostrum now. I can't get anything out, but DS suddenly went from nursing twice a day to asking several other times during the day, AND, his poops have gotten really mushy!!! They are a vivid mustard yellow color, VERY soft (not diarrhea but VERY mushy) and he is going 3-4 times a day. Tonight he even pooped in the bathtub for the first time in his life! (DS is 22 months) Of course it's not nice breastmilk poop, it's toxic toddler poop that is out of control!

He is well otherwise, no dietary changes or anything like that... sound like colostrum poop to you?

[monkeys4mama]

Originally Posted by timneh_mom

Hello!

IDS suddenly went from nursing twice a day to asking several other times during the day, AND, his poops have gotten really mushy!!! They are a vivid mustard yellow color, VERY soft (not diarrhea but VERY mushy) and he is going 3-4 times a day. Tonight he even pooped in the bathtub for the first time in his life! (DS is 22 months) Of course it's not nice breastmilk poop, it's toxic toddler poop that is out of control!

He is well otherwise, no dietary changes or anything like that... sound like colostrum poop to you?

Um, yeah. That sounds familiar to me. My kids had the poo changes when nursing colostrum. I don't think I ever noticed it quite as early on in my pregnancies. Mostly it was after the baby arrived. But yes, my toddlers all went through a stage of returning to having runny soft poops from colostrum.

[timneh_mom]

Thanks Ellen... I've always been an over producer, I leaked it at 24 weeks the last time I think but since my breasts have been pretty functional this time, I'm not totally surprised.

Not that thrilled that we'll be doing this for the foreseeable future, but I'm glad he's getting something now!

[Still_Snarky]

Originally Posted by jillmamma

Question for all of you...do you think nursing more than one child makes AF stay away longer?

That'd be nice! My AF returned on DD's 1st birthday... I'm hoping nursing two will keep her at bay even longer this time, though we temp/chart to avoid so having AF back sooner would make me feel a little safer.

[timneh_mom]

I got my first AF like a week after my son turned one also. I was so hoping I just wouldn't get them anymore! LOL Oh well... it wasn't many cycles later and I got pregnant, so now another big bunch of time without them!

I sure hope nursing two will keep it at bay longer... I guess it just depends on how much DS still nurses when DC#2 turns a year old!

[PrairieBohemian]

I'd like to join this tribe!

I am an unenthusiastic tandem nurser. Ds1 weaned during pregnancy but as soon as ds2 came along, LATCH LATCH LATCH! One thing I am really grateful about is that there are no jealousy issues with ds1 and if its tandem nursing that saved me from this, then I should nurse my little hooligan with a smile. But really, its hard. Really stinkin' hard.

I don't get any enjoyment from nursing my 2.5 yr old. He has an aggressive power-latch that sucks milk from my toes. Sometimes I feel so violated. I know I'm not alone. The funny thing is I'll probably miss these days when I'm an old wrinkled prune.

I should quit my whining now...

Anyway, thanks for the tribe! I'll pop in when I can!

[Still_Snarky]

Howdy and welcome Terra!

You are certainly not alone in feeling unenthusiastic. My dd suddenly seems very demanding and I'm less than enthused lots of days. That said, I'm committed to CLW and we're just pushing on through for now!

[jillmamma]

How often do you nurse your kids together vs. separately? DS usually just nurses 2-3 times a day (morning, before bed, and sometimes one other time during the day), and DD nurses when she wants to (6-8 times a day), so usually I may nurse them at the same time just once or twice a day. It is so cute watching them though, they sometimes hold hands and look at each other, and even make each other smile or laugh. I love how tandem nursing has helped their sibling relationship!

[Mama2ABCD]

how often seperate or together? : i do get some one on one time, but most of it's together 'cept at night. only one nurses during the night (i've put in a good share of tandeming at night with my first 2) or if i'm walking it's just the baby that nurses. my 2 youngest...2 months and 2 1/2 years are too many times to keep count.
last night i had 4 to nurse...now that was a bottleneck. those are very rare and when dh came home he said it looked like i was being attacked by a pile of ants.
i've seen hand holding, eye gazing, nipple pulling out of other's mouth (seems to be a newborn initiation...hazing), pushing, wrestling, head/arm rubbings, both argueing about a certain side....but i was so happily suprised when my dd actually put the nipple in her little brother's month (he was a week). that i had never seen before! and it was my girl that did that. i wouldn't trade any of these moments!

i remember reading that you produce 2-3 oz of breastmilk per pound of baby. 3oz if he/she is an avid nurser. i always extend this to my toddlers since they nurse as frequent (they probably get more). My baby is over 15 lbs, my dd is 25 pounds. that's 40 pounds x3. that's about a gallon a day (i don't count the older two into this).
so mama's, sit down a try to calculate what you are producing and then pat yourselves on the back! so amazing what your body can do!

[monkeys4mama]

About nursing separate vs together and about getting frustrated with the older nursling, I think it really depends on the nurslings. My first two were so cute and cozy together. They made tandem nursing easy. The older one was very loving toward her baby sister and she was not pestering me or causing pain w/ bad latch or getting in the way or annoying me. She nursed together w/ her sis and she would hold her sister's hand and pat her on the head and tell me she loved her baby, etc. It was quite nice. And she weaned when I was pregnant w/ #3 so I then tandemed #2 and #3. They got along fine too. Dd#2 treated her little brother just like she had been treated. Lots of loving snuggles in mom's lap, etc. Well, then along came #4. I was suddenly nursing THREE kids at once and so w/ only two breasts, someone always got left out and that became a big source of jealousy. Ds and dd got to arguing. The baby always got first turn, of course, but the other two made me insane at times. Now the #2 child is weaned also, so I'm down to two again. But those two are NOT fun to nurse together. At least not all the time. Ds and dd#4 will push and shove each other and jockey for position and scream and fight over who gets the nay-nay with the most milk and so on. Sometimes I wanna scream myself. They do manage to nurse friendly much of the time. But I would have to say that with this last tandem pair, it's easier to nurse one at a time, if they'll let me.

[kiwimumtomykidz]

I usually nurse my two once or twice a day together. I loved (and still do enjoy) nursing DD#4 but DD#5 is another story!! She is on again, off again, wriggling and fidgeting, kicking my in places unmentionable! I have days when I want to give up on nursing her ... but I am committed to keeping on going.

I love the times they nurse together, they are very sweet, except when DD#5 tries to kick DD#4 in the head!! LOL! DD#4 is very good about it and just tells her to use gentle feet!

[timneh_mom]

Kirstie - nursing 4? WOW! What a mama!!! I will remember you and nursing 4 when my baby is born and I'm struggling with nursing two! I had to laugh at your description of everyone patting/rubbing/taking nipple away... my son always takes away other kids' pacifiers and sippy cups so I can totally see him doing that too... stinker! LOL

[AntoninBeGonin]

I'm so glad to find this tribe My situation is almost identical to the OP's. Ds (25 mos) had almost stopped nursing except in the morning and sometimes a few minutes during the day. Since our daughter was born (9-26) he has been nursing day and night, by himself and with her and he has a fit if he needs to wait a few moments. Ah, but what can I say? It makes him so happy and it's so great to see their happy little faces

~Nay

[MNmom]

new to this tribe, hi

Hi Everyone

I didn't realize this group existed until Jillmamma suggested it to me in the Life with Babe group. Thanks!

I have an 8 mth old dd and am 1 month along pregnant. I have been crying since I understood the common scenario of milk drying up in pregnancy. I am so glad to find this group. I will nurse as long as I can but want to be prepared to recognize if/when my baby is not getting enough breastmilk, what and how to supplement/replace, and how to keep nursing some so I can tandem when the new one comes. I am really hoping my milk holds out until I am five months along and my dd is 1 yr old.

My midwife has told me to make sure to eat and drink enough.
I am looking forward to learning from and with all of you.

[mamamilkbar]

DD was 10 months old when I got pregnant. We never have to supplement so hopefully you won't either! I know if we would of had to I would've used goats milk.